CNBC Business News Update Market Midday: Stocks Lower, Slight Market Recovery from Earlier Lows, Fewest Job Openings In December In 5 years 2/5/26
Feb 5, 2026
Carl Quintanilla, CNBC journalist and market co-anchor known for business reporting. He discusses the sharp drop in December job openings and rising layoffs. Short takes on intraday market movers, big tech earnings and AI spending. Also notes consumer strain seen in cash-advance searches.
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Midday Market Bounce Amid Volatility
- Wall Street attempted a midday recovery after a steep morning selloff, with the Dow narrowing losses from over 600 points to about 380 at lunch.
- NVIDIA reversed into positive territory while Amazon led declines, showing mixed tech leadership amid volatility.
Labor Market Showing Clear Weakness
- December saw the fewest U.S. job openings in five years, signaling a cooling labor market.
- weekly unemployment claims rose and announced job cuts hit a 17-year high, reinforcing weakening labor trends.
JOLTS Vastly Undershot Expectations
- The JOLTS report substantially missed expectations at 6.5 million openings versus the 7.2 million forecast.
- Carl Quintanilla highlighted this as a big miss and a large drop in openings for December.